DignityMoves Brookfield Senior Gardens

Oakland, California

Purpose-Built Housing Gives Unsheltered Seniors a Home in Brookfield

Brookfield Senior Gardens meets a critical need for Oakland, creating 40 permanent supportive housing units with wraparound services for low-income seniors experiencing chronic homelessness.

40 New Permanent Homes for Chronically Homeless Oakland Seniors
Site Design Offers a Range of Social and Private Outdoor Spaces
Sensory Garden and Shared Amenities for Residents
Accessible Units for Mobility, Hearing, and Vision Needs
Funded Through California’s Homekey+ Program and Local Sources
Locally-Manufactured Volumetric Modular Construction
Public Art Murals by Local Artists Celebrate Notable Brookfield Village Natives
Wraparound Services Support Residents’ Health and Well-Being
Extension of 5-Year, 10+ Community Partnership With DignityMoves

Older adults are the fastest-growing segment of Californians facing homelessness. Amid rising costs and economic uncertainty, many are losing stable housing for the first time later in life, while others have struggled with housing insecurity for years. The prospect of homelessness is traumatic for anyone, but for seniors, it becomes even more acute, as many require medical, emotional, and psychological support to live independently. Permanent, dignified housing solutions for this population have never been more urgent.

Gensler partnered with DignityMoves to help address this urgent need. Funded through California’s Homekey+ program and built with locally-manufactured volumetric modular construction, Brookfield Senior Gardens brings 40 units to an underutilized site in Oakland. Designed within tight site constraints, a variety of inclusive spaces, including quieter gardens alongside more community-oriented gathering areas, allow residents to choose how they spend their days. Public art murals by the Bay Area Mural Program, Natty Rebel, and Hungry Ghost Studio celebrate notable Brookfield natives, including NBA star Damian Lillard, rooting the site in the neighborhood.

Brookfield Senior Gardens does something simple and profound: it gives people a home. For seniors facing chronic homelessness, their own space with a permanent address and wraparound support changes everything. This project shows what’s possible when public funding, nonprofit vision, and thoughtful design work together: a dignified, lasting place to belong, built right in the community that shaped it.

A group of people walking around a white building.

“

Older adults are the fastest-growing population experiencing street homelessness in California, and for most, it's the first time in their lives. Gensler brought that reality into every design decision at Brookfield Senior Gardens, creating a community of safety, stability, and the dignity of aging with a home.

—Jennifer Kiss, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer of DignityMoves

A person sitting on a chair outside. — Disclaimer: All individuals featured in these images are models.

Residential

DignityMoves Cherry Avenue

San Jose, California

DignityMoves engaged Gensler to design a trauma-informed tiny home village to shelter the unhoused in San Jose, California.

North Side Housing and Supportive Services

Chicago, Illinois

Designed by Gensler, North Side Housing and Supportive Services (NSHSS) provides a much-needed place of shelter for unhoused men in Chicago’s Roger’s Park.

The Lark Inn

San Francisco, California

In partnership with Larkin Street Youth Services, AEC Cares, and local industry peers, Gensler redesigned Lark Inn, a shelter for homeless youth in S.F.

Urban Awning

Los Angeles, California

Urban Awning is a new constructional, environmental, and social model of affordable and supportive housing designed by Gensler.

A group of buildings with balconies and trees in front.

Hof 36

Leiden, Netherlands

Hof 36 reinterprets Leiden’s historic hofje as a contemporary garden community. Six buildings frame a central landscaped kitchen garden that extends upward through balcony planters and stepped roof terraces.

Apella on Newport

Tampa, Florida

Apella on Newport immediately expanded the supply of quality student housing near the University of Tampa, offering a new model for community-oriented, amenity-rich living.

A park with buildings and trees with mountains in the background.

Lyra

Monterrey, Mexico

The Lyra is a master plan for a sustainable community in the Cumbres area of Monterrey that aims to create positive environmental impact and social value.

Holliday Street

Birmingham, United Kingdom

Raybone Developments’ Gensler-led project, Holliday Street, is a residential-driven development located on the site of a former open-air car park in Birmingham.

CSULB Hillside Gateway

Long Beach, California

CSULB Hillside Gateway is a game-changer for sustainable campuses. The project generates more energy than it uses, conserves water, and fosters student engagement and well-being. It is a benchmark for sustainable campus development.

Everly at The Stacks

Washington, D.C.

A 14-story residential retreat offers tranquil design, wellness amenities, and vibrant connections within The Stacks, a six-acre mixed-use community along Washington, D.C.’s Buzzard Point waterfront.

CSULB Parkside North Residence Hall and Housing Administration Building

Long Beach, California

California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) enlisted Gensler to help reach the university’s goal of achieving net-zero status by 2030.

280 Art Boulevard

São Paulo, Brazil

280 Art Boulevard reinterprets luxury residential living through architecture shaped by art, landscape, and performance, creating a highly curated collection of residences.